The Unlikely Cousins: Walkman and Bitcoin, Echoes of a Revolution
Both the Sony Walkman (launched 1979) and Bitcoin (launched 2009) stand as monumental innovations, yet their stories often fly under the radar when considering technological breakthroughs. A Supply Shock analysis suggests they may share an unexpected lineage.
Standing on the Shoulders (and Чипы, Too)
Satoshi Nakamoto built Bitcoin, initially, upon the shoulders of predecessors. Nakamoto himself noted the “ideas whose merit cannot be ascribed” – echoing how existing technologies paved the way.
Indeed, neither Bitcoin nor the incredibly portable Walkman, nor the World Wide Web – integral to Bitcoin’s environment – would have existed as we know them without specific enabling technology. All three could be viewed, indirectly, as children of the early microprocessor.
From Personal Stereos to Digital Gold: Parallels
Just as Bitcoin offered a new financial paradigm – an alternative to traditional banking and currency – the Sony Walkman offered a new sensory paradigm. It allowed individuals to create their personal “soundscape,” independent of their environment, “outside, away from the village.”
Both devices also challenged established norms and faced initial skepticism:
- The Walkman: Critics deemed it self-indulgent, anti-social, a gadget for a self-absorbed “me” generation. Internal Sony teams questioned its potential success.
- Bitcoin: Faced criticism, lingering misconceptions linking it primarily to illicit activities.
Furthermore, both represented a move away from controlling personal experiences by location:
- Pre-Walkman: You didn’t control your music on a long-haul flight as easily, nor could you be your “own DJ” away from home.
- Pre-Bitcoin: You couldn’t be your own “bank,” or manage finances on your terms outside the established financial infrastructure.
Sowing the Seeds
The Walkman essentially warmed the population up to the idea that “we can be our own anything, no matter where we are.” This ethos, arguably, helped pave the cultural and conceptual ground for Bitcoin – a technology enabling complete financial self-sovereignty, three decades later.
Market Validation: The Walkman Rushed; Bitcoin?
The Walkman, upon its arrival in Japan in 1979, sold out quickly. Just years later, two million units, a more manageable figure relatively for today, were shipped. It was fast adoption for the time.
However, a stark measure measures relative speed differently: it took the Walkman nine years for “Walkman” to be officially included in the Oxford English Dictionary.
By comparison, while precursors existed for Bitcoin, its name entered everyday parlance much more quickly, appearing in the same timeframe as “emoji” and “twerk”, cues to its rapid cultural absorption.
Access to their respective portables was simple (headphones) language. Both fundamentally allowed users to possess specific experiences otherwise tied to fixed locations or central systems. While Bitcoin enjoys a global reach, it also evolved from a niche technological innovation like the Walkman.
